Inside the Beats with Cornell's Rob Pannell

You've always wondered what the players on the big stages in lacrosse listen to — well now you have it.

Former Dartmouth and Duke middie Jon Livadas and his crew at Big Green Beats is pumping out exclusive interviews with the players and the music playlists that they are listening to right before they gear up and head out to the field.

This week's "Inside the Beats" features Rob Pannell. The Smithtown, NY native Pannell is on this years Tawaaraton Trophy watch list being considered as one of the best players in the country. In his sophomore campaign he registered 80 points finishing second in the nation in assists per game (2.83). In four games already this season Pannell has 24 points (9g, 15a) and will poised to lead the Big Red to a successful post season.

What are your favorite genres? How has your music taste developed over your lacrosse career?

I don’t really have any favorite genres, I like all music, just depends what I am in the mood for at the moment, or what my teammates are listening too. I look to a lot of guys on the team like Chris Livadas, JJ Gilbane, and Chris Langton for new songs that they have found and go with them. My taste of music has developed with the team I have been playing on, Cornell has a very diverse taste in music so over the past few years I have taken a liking to everything, even country which I never have before.

Is there an artist or band that mimics your style of play or is your counterpart in the music world?

The Beatles, smooth music from an old school band that everyone likes to listen to. Id say my game is more of an smooth, simple, old school style that people like to watch, but not flashy in that I am not going to make people jump out of their shoes in excitement.

What role has music played in your lacrosse career?

I was never one of those guys who listened to music before games, but as the years went on I always am listening to music before games, it allows me to relax and loosen up before games.

What songs are popular right now in the locker room? Who claims to be the team DJ? More importantly, who actually is the team DJ?

JJ Gilbane definitely thinks he is the team DJ and comes in with new songs everyday. Chris Livadas has been the team DJ in the past and always has some sweet jams for the locker room. I’d say those two are a nice dynamic duo to have on your team to get pumped up before workout, practice, or a game. Many different versions of Black and Yellow have been on along with a lot of other mash ups that people find.

What are a few songs that headline your team’s warm up mix this spring? And who is left in charge with the monumental decision of what goes on the warm up mix?

I just recently appointed Chris Livadas and JJ Gilbane in charge of this year’s warm up mix, so there is a lot of pressure on them to deliver. As for what’s going to be on it, I am not really sure. We are big fans of mash ups though, and I am sure there will be some songs like No Hands by Waka Flocka and Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa, but I definitely think there will be one or two throwbacks on there as well.

How or where do you find new music?

I am not a music guru like some so I am always looking to people for some new songs to listen to. My roommate Chris Langton always has some new tunes for me as well as teammate JJ Gilbane. They are always on YouTube, and other music websites looking for new songs. A lot of times I will just like a song I hear in the locker room and find out the name of it from someone on the team and start listening to it. I tend to over play songs in like a week though, so I am always looking for new stuff and know BigGreenBeats always has some great new music!

ABOUT BIG GREEN BEATS

College students love new music. College students also are incredibly lazy. Big Green Beats is your one stop to sample all the newest music while putting off all of your other responsibilities just a little bit longer. Our dedicated team has years of musical experience and Ph.Ds in crushing the Internet music scene. We do the work searching around so you can live the life of leisure and beats. Our team is networked across the country so that we feel the local pulse at all universities, ensuring that no regional hit is missed.

The BigGreenBeats team started small, using the website to share music between close friends and had no aspiration of spreading our reach across the country and slowly infiltrating countries around the world. After expanding our reach, we have begun to focus more on up and coming artists, remixes, mashups and everything in between.

All of the members of the BGB team are current or former D1 lacrosse players and after years of listening to locker room music and countless warm up CD's, we figured 'why not share with the lacrosse community what we hear and have heard on a daily basis for the past few years of our lives?' Hopefully, you enjoy hearing from some of the biggest names in lacrosse about what type of music they listen to and how it's influenced their lacrosse lives.